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Federal prosecutors investigating former Trump lawyer view October 2016 tape as trigger for burying potentially damaging information, people familiar with the matter say

Trying to understand the events involving President Trump, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels​ and the potential impact on the presidency? WSJ’s Michael Rothfeld and Joe Palazzolo are here to focus on what's important: the money trail. Photo: Getty Images

Michael Cohen initially balked at the idea of buying the silence of a former adult-film star who says she had sex with Donald Trump, but he did an about-face after a video of Mr. Trump talking about groping women became public in October 2016.

A day after the recording surfaced of outtakes of Mr. Trump speaking to a host of NBC’s “Access Hollywood,” Mr. Cohen, then Mr. Trump’s senior counsel, told a representative for the performer that he was open to a deal, according to a person familiar with the conversation.